Eternal Life In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

One of the most fascinating pieces of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, deals with and explores many of the problems humans have wrestled with for thousands of years. Even though the text does not explicitly answer any of the questions it poses, it gives clues that point to the answers. One of these questions, the dilemma of whether to act based solely on a person’s intuition or act based on reason and advice, occurs regularly in the text. Throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh, characters have success and failure when they act based on either their intuition or using reason, but the epic clearly points out, through examples, that acting based on reason instead of intuition constitutes more success in all facets of life.

(Gilgamesh 71)” Gilgamesh's grief for his friend was natural, but he shouldn't have abandoned his people and his royal duties. As ruler, his people have to follow his decree, and need his support to thrive. By forcing them to grief, and abandoning his position, he left them in a very vulnerable position. His last and final abandonment of his people began with Gilgamesh's quest for immortality. He was so upset and shocked by what occurred to Enkidu's body after death, that he vowed he would never die. His selfishness has grown so far, that when he finds his cure for mortality, he chooses to let an old man test the plant in case it brings death instead. “I will bring it to Uruk-Haven, and have an old man eat the plant to test it. The plant's name is “The Old Man Becomes a Young Man.” Then I will eat it and return to the condition of my youth. (Gilgamesh 106)” Gilgamesh was a powerful man with a lot of ambition, and potential. It was just ruined by his selfish nature. He was, all-in-all, a famous and great ruler... but not a just one.

Because of his pride, he does not listen, which is one of his biggest flaws in the story. Furthermore, you can see Gilgamesh’s perseverance when he finds out that the outcome of his journey is not favorable, but he still continues to go after praying to Shamash (26). This shows that he would always continue with what he started and that he was not one to give up on what he says he is going to do. His loyalty to his friend, Enkidu, is also very obvious, especially after Enkidu passed away, when Gilgamesh “Slaughtered fatted [cattle] and sheep, heaped them high for his friend” (62). This shows that Gilgamesh really enjoyed and appreciated Enkidu as a friend, and even after his death, he did everything possible to make sure that he was recognized and respected. But, after his death, Gilgamesh still showed his flaw of being self-righteous because he felt that he deserved eternal life because he was part god. For instance, he stated, “Enkidu, my friend whom I loved, is turned into clay! Shall I too not lie down like him, and never get up forever and ever?” (78). The idea of death really hit him after Enkidu because he realized that death is inevitable, no matter how prideful you are or how much you achieve, it is still going to happen. Gilgamesh definitely had too many heroic qualities that were

The maturation of Gilgamesh and his desire to acquire wisdom throughout his journey is quite apparent. By overcoming difficulties such as upholding Uruk, becoming friends with Enkidu, and various other scenarios, Gilgamesh proves that he did in fact grow up throughout the epic.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s pursuit for immortality is marked by ignorance and selfish desire. Desire and ignorance, as The Buddha-karita of Asvaghosha suggests, pollutes man’s judgment resulting in his inability to break the cycle of birth and death. At the core of Gilgamesh’s desire resides his inability to accept the inevitability of death, making his rationality behind the pursuit of immortality ignorant and selfish. Implicitly, Gilgamesh’s corrupt desire for immortality conveys that Gilgamesh does not mature as a character.

There is debate to whether or not the 12th tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh belongs to the original story. The biggest claim for this is the very different look tablet 12 has on fame compared to the rest of the epic. Fame and glory is the ultimate goal of any hero we see it epics such as the Iliad with Achilles who knows he will die at the beginning of the epic yet accepts that fate because it means glory. Gilgamesh is no different, and he is quite reckless in the beginning of the epic. He does quest at the expense of his own safety. This is apparent in tablet 2 when he wants to go to the Forest of Cedar and slay Humbaba. Even Enkidu a man of equal footing fears Humbaba. Gilgamesh how can we go Challenge Humbaba the Gods appointed him to keep the cedars safe (p 19). This shows that the chance of fame in the mind of Gilgamesh outweighs the cost of the mission even if that includes his own life. The reason why heroes like Gilgamesh have this view of eternal glory is, because eternal glory means you live on in legend even in death. Gilgamesh continues like this this as he progress through the poem until tablet 7 in which Enkidu dies. Gilgamesh does not die in the epic he experiences it through the death of Enkidu his closest friend. This reason here is also a reason it may not be original to the first 11 tablets. Enkidu dies in tablet 7 but in tablet 12 he is alive and goes to the underworld. The picture that is painted in the 12th tablet has a contrasting point of view to that

men, hear me! Hear me, O elders of teeming Uruk, hear me! I shall weep

One value in the Epic of Gilgamesh is balance, and this value is shown by the advice given to the main characters. When Gilgamesh is talking to Utnapishtim, he says “You have toiled without cease, and what have you got? / Through toil you wear yourself out, / you fill your body with grief,” (92-93) This shows that while Gilgamesh has been working non-stop, it doesn’t bring him happiness. Instead, it’s just making him more depressed. Gilgamesh has just walked through the darkness, he has worked hard, but he has forgotten balance in his life which he would create through relaxation. This “toiling without cease” gives him nothing. Another example is when Enkidu first steps into civilization. Shamhat tells him to “Eat the food, Enkidu, it is the way one lives. / Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land.” (16) Once again, the theme of relaxing and enjoying life presents itself. The text doesn’t state that one should only relax and

In the ?Epic of Gilgamesh,? Gilgamesh deals with an issue that nearly destroyed him. He sought after immortality so much that he put his own life on the edge. Centuries later, this quest unites our high tech, fast paced culture with the remote and different culture of Gilgamesh. Humanity has yet to find the secret of letting go of the idea of everlasting life.

Perhaps one of the main reasons the Epic of Gilgamesh is so popular and has lasted such a long time, is because it offers insight into the human concerns of people four thousand years ago, many of which are still relevant today. Some of these human concerns found in the book that are still applicable today include: the fear and concerns people have in relation to death, overwhelming desires to be immortal, and the impact a friendship has on a person’s life. It does not take a great deal of insight into The Epic of Gilgamesh for a person to locate these themes in the story, and even less introspection to relate to them.

Death is a very large theme in the "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Being that this epic largely represented the Sumerian and Mesopotamians idea I believe the feeling of Gilgamesh himself on death and it 's aftermath would be very much the same for most of the society in the time that it was written. Gilgamesh was largely afraid of dying and did everything he could to avoid this inevitable fate.

The second significant change in Gilgamesh was caused by the loss of his brotherly companion, Enkidu. Gilgamesh couldn't bear the loss of a love so powerful. Despite his astonishing power and leadership, something in his life was missing. He wept for seven days and seven nights, in hope of bringing Enkidu back to him. Gilgamesh said, "I thought my friend would come back because of my weeping. Since he went, my life is nothing". It is in this stage of the epic that we see the truly sympathetic and compassionate side of Gilgamesh. The grief in his heart had far surpassed the magnificent pride that he had previously displayed so boldly.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the protagonist Gilgamesh is ⅔ god and ⅓ man and only gods are immortal. The driving force in the story is Gilgamesh trying to become immortal because he is greedy. He literally goes to the end of the earth to try to become immortal. But when Gilgamesh gets to the end of the world and asks Uta-Napishti if he can become immortal, Uta-Napishti says, “What you seek you shall never find. For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality to themselves. Fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let Days be full of joy. Love the child who holds your hand. Let your wife delight in your embrace. For these alone are the concerns of man.” (10.90 George) In this quote Uta-Napishti is telling Gilgamesh that nothing lives forever and he should use the life he has and live in the moment. This is when Gilgamesh realizes that he will never be immortal. But in this time period people do not seem to care about greed, it is just a fact of life. People will be greedy regardless. But this isn’t the

Some people say they want to live forever, but that is physically impossible and the life they have now is short and precious. Enjoy the life you have now because you are not going to get another one. In the story Gilgamesh sets out on a quest to find everlasting life. In the story Utnapishtim says “Life and death they allot but the day of death they do not disclose. “ I think what he is saying is that life and death brings many good things and bad things, but you never know when your gonna die.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the theme is to accept one’s mortality. The epic